Full of Pretty Things
by emerald-soco
Summary: Where the end is certain, but it will not be rehearsed.


So I've only seen a few episodes of Jericho (thanks, but I'm kind of in love with it. This is just a one-shot, a look at how things would be if Jake and some others moved into Skylar's house and to wait for things to get better or worse. If you read, review!

**Full of Pretty Things**

_You were born and soon you will return_

_From a stardust covered universe_

_Where the end is certain_

_But it will not be rehearsed_

_-- Stardust Universe; Jakob Dylan_

Skylar has always thought of her house as a castle. Not the stonewall-drawbridge-fortress type, but the princess kind with pretty pointed turrets and pastel flags waving in a gentle breeze.

Turns out it's the former.

At least, that's what Jake Green and the other survivors have turned it into. They showed up a few days after her party got broken up and told her she had the most powerful generator in town. No surprise there. She had the best _everything_ in town, back when there was still really a town.

Jake didn't even really ask, just kind of peered past her (she'd started keeping the chain locked when she went to the door, just in case, because she's a girl living alone and even when people aren't going crazy with radiation sickness, it's better safe than sorry), and said, "I heard you've still got power."

And she kind of looked at him, like what did he think he was trying to pull, she's not _stupid, _and said, "Yeah? And?"

He nodded once, real slow, and she had just enough time to notice that he had the most intense eyes, like, _ever _before he said, "We'd like to use this place as base camp."

The rest is history. Just like everything else she used to call hers.

XXX

It's been almost two weeks since Jericho went to hell in a handbasket. Despite his father's best efforts, Jake knows people in town are still dying - they try to run, or they kill each other, or they touch something or eat something or breathe something they shouldn't.

They can't save everyone. They tried, but too many people have seen too many action movies and no one's listening to reason. So they gathered whoever they could convince and moved into Skylar's house; a last line of defense against an unknown attacker and an invisible disease.

He wants to laugh at the odds, but it's really, really not funny.

XXX

Bonnie signs angrily to Stanley that they shouldn't have brought Mimi, that they don't know her and she isn't their responsibility.

He says, firmly, "Stop."

There's more to it than that, there must be, but his lips aren't moving and she's not a _mind_ reader.

XXX

Mimi has never met Skylar before, but the first thing she does when she stumbles across the girl is give her a hug.

"Um, hello?" The teenager is all skin and bones, and Mimi remembers being that young, combing the mall for skanky tops and thinking she held the world on a string. "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm Mimi, I live - I _lived_," she corrected herself, because God damn it, she's a realist. "In D.C. And I've been stuck living in a barn for the past two weeks and if it weren't for you and this mansion, I'd still be there, so I just wanted to thank you."

When Mimi finally pulls away, Skylar looks at like she's crazy, but here's the thing: _Mimi_ had to be the one to pull away. And that's when she finally understands she's not the only one missing something.

XXX

The refugees set up camp in the living room. They throw down sleeping bags and backpacks filled with anything they could carry. It's not much - not anything, really - but Dale spends a whole day carting over supplies from the store and Emily lights dozens of candles and Stanley tells lame jokes and it's almost ... fun.

When she finds herself thinking that, being _grateful_ for this invasion, Skylar retreats to her bedroom and locks the door and doesn't come out until Dale knocks hours later.

"We're eating dinner," he tells her, eyes focused on a spot directly above her head. "Emily made some pasta and, um, Mrs. Green baked pie for dessert."

She blinks. She hasn't been crying because, God, how pointless would _that_ be, but her eyes are watery, like maybe she's got allergies or something. "Blueberry?"

He kind of smiles. "Yeah. Your favorite."

And maybe Molly or Julie would say it's weird, how he knows that, how he seems to know _everything _about her, but Skylar doesn't mind.

XXX

Their first dinner all together is kind of like the cocktail parties her parents always used to get dressed up for. There's lots of wine - Stanley winks at her when he says he raided the alcohol cabinet, like he knows he's not the first- and somebody's put a record on the player her mom kept around for show and everyone's careful to only talk about things that aren't beyond repair.

It doesn't leave much open for discussion, but even the silence is more comfortable than most of them have felt all week.

XXX

After dinner, the men close themselves up in Skylar's father's study and sort through their options.

It's a short conversation.

XXX

"You've been really nice to Skylar," Stanley observes, coming into the kitchen so quietly that his voice, so close to her ear, startles her.

Mimi jumps, then rolls her eyes and turns her full attention back to the dishes she'd volunteered to wash. "Despite what you choose to believe, I'm capable of human emotions."

"I never doubted it," he replies honestly, then waits a beat before adding, "Didn't think you could do dishes, though."

She chuckles, just as he'd intended, and hands him a towel. "Make yourself useful, Farmboy."

XXX

April is brushing her hair - one hundred strokes every night, just like her mother taught her - when she realizes there is somebody watching her.

She whirls around, but it's only Emily, sitting cross legged on the couch and looking even smaller than usual. "April," the blonde says hesitantly. "You're a doctor. What do you think the chances are? Of us surviving?"

"Oh, I don't know, Em," she replies, setting her hairbrush down. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Are you ..." Emily breaks off, sighs. "Are you happy? With ... the way things are? Or - were, I guess. Do you have any regrets?"

She thinks of Eric and Mary Bailey, of all the things she's seen lately that she wishes she hadn't. But ... "No," she decides. "Everything happens for a reason, right? Whatever brought us to this point, at least we're all here."

Emily casts her eyes downward. "Not all of us."

XXX

Bonnie signs to Jake, _Where's Heather?_ and he just shakes his head, looks away. It's not traditional ASL, but Bonnie understands all the same.

XXX

Later, Emily finds him on the patio. "Thought you quit smoking," she says, plucking the cigarette from his mouth.

She crushes it as easily as she crushed his heart so many years ago and if he squints, Jake can still see the girl she was then. "Thought it might be time to pick up a bad habit," he drawls. "What with the world ending and all."

It's the first time he's said it out loud - to her, at least. She's not an idiot, she knows the men have been having secret meetings. She would fight to join them, squawk about women's rights and being a better shot than at least half their new volunteer deputies, but the truth is, she knows they're screwed. She doesn't want to talk about it in hushed tones every other night.

"Got a light?" she asks, settling down beside him and laying a hand on his knee. It's a small gesture, but an intimate one, and she's close enough to see his jaw clench.

He shakes his head. "I'm not giving you a cigarette. I've gotten in trouble for that before."

"We were teenagers," she laughs. "Things have changed."

Jake's eyes travel from her hand on his knee to her quietly amused gaze. "Some things," he allows, and stands up to leave.

XXX

Dale waits until everyone else has turned in for the night, then gathers his own sleeping bag and creeps up the stairs. He listens for a minute at Skylar's door, hears nothing, and settles down to sleep.

XXX

In the middle of the night, Stanley finds Mimi outside, staring up at the sky like she's searching for something. "What are you doing?"

"I can't sleep here," she says, not looking at him. "It's too quiet. I need sirens going off and - and drunks yelling at each other. God, I don't envy your sister. Hearing nothing all the time - it's too _much_."

"Come back inside." He reaches out, rests one hand on her shoulder. "It's not safe out here.

She chuckles mirthlessly. "Jericho survived a nuclear attack that took out the nation's capital." Her eyes are still on the stars. "It's the safest place I've ever been."

XXX

Jake wakes up early and watches the sun rise.

"Why, Jake Green, I can hardly believe it." Gail is standing in the doorway, arms crossed, smiling at him as if there is nothing wrong with the world around them. "The apocalypse has turned you into an early-riser."

His mouth crooks upward. "Guess so."

She nods, studying the lines on his face, the steel in his eyes. "You just keep changing on me, kiddo. I can hardly keep up."

He presses a kiss to her forehead on his way inside. "I'll try to stop."

Gail watches him enter the kitchen, sees how everyone else watches him too, with respect and expectance in their eyes. Her headstrong son is all grown up now; a leader of the same town he once turned his back on. "I don't think you can help it."

XXX

Skylar trips over Dale's sleeping form and lets out a little shriek of surprise. "Dale," she hisses, digging her foot into his ribs to wake him. "What are you _doing?_"

"Sleeping," he mumbles, rolling over but not opening his eyes.

"Obviously," she retorts. "I mean, what are you doing _here_? Everyone else is downstairs."

At last, he sits up. "I just wanted to be sure you were okay," he says, his tone making it clear that she shouldn't even have to ask. "I know you're probably not used to being alone."

She stares at him for a minute, like she's never seen him before, and then holds out her hand. "Come on," she commands, "I smell bacon."

XXX

Emily is showered and dressed, combing the tangles out of her wet hair, when Jake pokes his head in the bathroom. "Hey, Eric and I were gonna take a ride west, see if we can find anything worth salvaging. Want in?"

"Definitely." Anything, she thinks, is better than sitting around and waiting for the world to end. "Give me five minutes."

He kind of chuckles. "God, Sullivan, when did you turn into such a _girl_?"

She makes a face and they laugh together. "Hey," she says suddenly, just as he's turning to leave. "This isn't the end, is it? Things are going to get worse."

Jake hesitates, then nods. "Probably.

"Are you scared?" she asks, and it's kind of like a challenge. They've always been interested in testing each other's limits. Now it seems like the rest of the world is in on the game.

He holds her gaze for a long moment; his eyes dark and serious. "No."

It's not the first time he's ever lied to her, not by a long shot, but it's the first time she's ever appreciated it. "I'm glad you're back, Jake," she tells him. "I know I wasn't all that nice to you, that first day in town, but ... I'm really glad you're here."

His grin flashes like lightning, quick and careless. "Nowhere else I'd rather be, Em."

She smiles. Maybe the world is ending, but at least before it does, she's getting a second chance at life. They all are.


End file.
